Woman at Ferndale barbecue killed by stray bullet

FERNDALE — The woman who was hit in the chest by a stray bullet while attending a Father’s Day barbecue near Ferndale died Monday at a Bellingham hospital.

The Whatcom County sheriff’s office says the 23-year-old woman died from her wound. Her name has not yet been released.

The Bellingham Herald reports her father called 911 Sunday to report bullets whizzing overhead. Then he called back to say his daughter had been hit.

Deputies traced the gunfire to the bank of the Nooksack River about a half mile away where five men were firing handguns and high-powered rifles. Two of the men were arrested and accused of being felons in possession of a firearm. They did not know the victim.